


We're off to see the wizard (and other things)

by VolsungartheMighty



Series: Stand By Me [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Idiots in Love, M/M, Oh The places we'll go, ThiamHalfBirthday, idiots on holiday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 08:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15020204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolsungartheMighty/pseuds/VolsungartheMighty
Summary: Liam asks something of his mother, and then waits for the perfect opportunity.





	We're off to see the wizard (and other things)

**Author's Note:**

> So this wasnt going to happen for a while, and I wasnt going to do anything for Day 7 of Thiam week, but here we are. I hope everyone likes it.

It was one of the few times Liam and Theo were alone, Theo busy, having stayed back at work to organise their time off, while Liam had returned home. But he had been antsy, unable to sit still. It didn’t happen often, of course. So he had sent his boyfriend a text message, telling him he would be at his parents place, before leaving the house and driving through town to the Geyer residence.

His mum was, of course, surprised to find him there, late on a Wednesday night. But she supposed it was to say goodbye, since Liam and Theo _were_ going away on holiday.

“Liam, it’s good to see you” Jenna said, pulling him into a hug. He returned it hesitantly, and she was immediately on guard. “Is everything okay? You didn’t get into a fight with Theo, did you?”

“Of course, not mum” Liam said as he pulled away, stepping into the house. “Everything’s okay. I just… couldn’t sit still.”

Jenna moved the two of them into the lounge room, and she sat down on the sofa while he paced in front of her, a hand grasping the necklace she had given him on his twenty first birthday.

“What do you want to ask, Liam?” Jenna said, her voice soft and comforting, and he sat down beside her, his hand never leaving the chain.

He let his mind wander for a moment, his mind flooding with the countless memories he and Theo had shared. It had been five long years since he and Theo had met, five years since they had started dating. They’d gone to college together, gone into their respective fields, Theo into writing, Liam into history. They’d both graduated near the top of their respected classes, and Theo now had his first book on it’s way to being published. Liam, meanwhile, was working at the museum, helping run the Ancient Greece exhibit, with hopes that he would be able to run the next exhibit down the line.

Liam sighed, shaking his head as he brought himself out of his thoughts and looked at his mother. “How did… when did dad know it was right to propose to you?” he asked, voice soft full of emotion. His hand was still grasped around the thin chain around his neck.

Jenna immediately softened, knowing straight away what he meant. “They were very different circumstances, Liam, you know that.”

“I know that. But… how did he know?”

Jenna sighed, pulling Liam into a fierce hug. “We’d known each other for a year when he proposed. We were on leave in Sydney and we were seeing something at the Opera House. I… honestly can’t remember what we were seeing, because during the intermission he got down on one knee and was proposing then and there, in front of a few other soldiers and nurses. And… I wouldn’t say I didn’t love him, because I did, and I said yes. But I think he asked because… he was a soldier, Liam. He was terrified he wouldn’t come back. He was terrified he would never have a family of his own. And… I was too, in a way. You don’t know what it’s like, worrying that someone you love won’t come back from war, and I’m glad you won’t ever experience that.”

Liam nodded, a look of understanding crossing his face. “So… you reckon dad proposed because he was scared of loosing you, even though he might not have been ready?”

Jenna nodded her head, a soft, yet sad, smile on her face as she remembered her late husband.

Liam inhaled deeply, sorting out his jumbled thoughts before he stood again, pacing for another moment, before he turned to Jenna, reaching behind his neck to undo the necklace. He held it out in front of him, reading the name on the dog tags. _A Dunbar, 7 5 1968_.

Next to the dog tags was a simple gold band, with two diamonds set into the metal, with a sapphire set in between the diamonds.

“I… I want to propose to Theo” Liam said softly, his eyes never leaving the ring on the chain. “And… I wanted to ask you, if it was okay if I used dads ring to propose?”

“Oh honey, of course you can” Jenna said as she stood from the sofa and embraced him in a hug. She pulled back a moment later, placing a soft kiss to his cheek. “How long have you been wanting to ask me that?”

“Almost a year” he said softly. But when Jenna looked into his eyes, she found something akin to fear swirling in his blue eyes.

“What’s wrong dear? You look terrified” she asked.

“I am” Liam replied, leaning into his mothers embrace. “What if he says no?”

“He will do no such thing” Jenna said, pulling back to look her son in the eye. “That boy thinks the world of you. He wouldn’t dare to think of saying no, I guarantee it.”

Liam smiled wetly at her, embracing her in a hug, before pulling away, placing the necklace back around his neck. “Thanks mum. I appreciate it.”

“When are you planning on asking him then?” she asked, curious now.

“I haven’t planned that far ahead” Liam admitted, a hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “Only that I was going to ask him while we were on holiday.”

“Well, you better get to it, Liam” Jenna said, eagerly. “I hope you know, I’ll be planning your wedding.”

“Yeah, I feared that was going to happen” Liam said, and all Jenna could do was laugh along with her son.

***

Melbourne was… wet and cold and dreary, yet warm and sunny and dry all at once.

Theo wasn’t a big fan. How people could stand living in a city that went through all four seasons in the span of twenty minutes was beyond him.

But they were here, strolling through the busy streets. Melbourne was… different to many cities he had been to. And he had been to a lot, during that year on the road. It was a hot pot of cultures, Italian restaurants sitting next to Vietnamese and Indian, all of which were less than a hundred metres away from a strip club. China town, taking up almost half of little Russel street, was bright and vibrant, a long stretch of Chinese restaurants, many with roast ducks hanging in their front windows. Little Italy sat miles outside of the CBD, and Theo knew they would be going there at some point, to visit some family of Liam’s who still lived in the country.

But it was more than that. The very city itself felt… old. Not as old as Paris or London or Rome, certainly, but it certainly felt older than most cities he had lived in. While most of San Francisco looked like it had been built from the early 1900s onwards (a fact that Theo knew was true thanks to Liam), Melbourne had old buildings mixed in with the new. On one end Bourke Street he could see the steel monstrosity that was Southern Cross Station, and at the other end he could see the old stone building that made up old Parliament house. They’d been to the museum too, of course, and Theo had been confronted by the comparison of old and new, the museum a building of steel and glass sitting right next to what Liam called the old Exhibition Building.

It was… odd, to say the least. At least for Theo. Most Melbournians probably never picked up on it.

“So, where are we off to next?” Theo asked Liam as they strolled down Bourke Street Mall, stopping as a tram passed by before crossing to the other side. “We’ve been to the museum, we’ve been to the Queen Victoria Market. It’s six o’clock. There can’t be much open on a Saturday night.”

“There isn’t” Liam said nonchalantly, turning down a little side alley, his eyes glued to his phone. “So we can go this way, take a left and then an immediate right…” he muttered, looking up from his phone and pointing down another laneway at the end of the one they were on. “We can get to Collins Street through that building, at the end of that laneway.”

“Are you sure it’s open?” Theo asked tentatively but followed Liam anyway. He was lost enough as it was.

“We’ll find out, wont we?” was all Liam said in reply.

The building was open, but the stores that lined the inside were closed and dark, and soon they were walking down Collins street, waiting for the lights to turn green so they could cross.

“What’s that up ahead?” Theo asked, pointing to a brightly lit building half way down to the next street.

“The Regent Theatre” Liam said, a bright smile on his face. “And where we’re going.”

“What, why?” Theo asked bewildered, looking over at Liam as the light turned green, and they and the rest of the crowd started to cross the street.

“Well, I remember you saying how much you liked the Wizard of Oz as a kid and bought us tickets to see the musical” Liam said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “I hope that’s okay?”

“More than okay” Theo said with a smile, pulling Liam in for a kiss, as Liam fished the tickets out of his back and they joined the queue to enter the building.

***

They had seats in a box, all to themselves. Liam hadn’t been expecting that, as his mother had booked the tickets for them, but she had gone all out for them. It was almost like she was planning exactly when Liam was going to pop the question.

It was a fun musical to watch, Liam would gladly admit that. Bright and cheerful, he loved watching how Dorothy and her new friends made their way through Oz, hoping to find the great and powerful Wizard.

It was during the intermission that Liam was given the perfect opportunity.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom, and then I’m going to get something to eat. Would you like anything?” Theo asked as he stood from his seat.

Liam shook his head, muttering, “No thanks, I should be fine.”

Theo nodded before he left the box, opening the door and then closing it softly behind him.

Liam was, actually, quite hungry, but he couldn’t stand to think about eating anything, his stomach was doing so many flips. But he knew Theo would say yes. Of course, he was going to say yes, they loved each other. But he couldn’t help but fear the worst.

He heard the door open and shut quietly behind him, before Theo walked around him, pecking him lightly on the cheek before placing his food down on the table between them and sitting in his chair. But of course, Theo could sense that something was off, and so he asked, “Is something wrong, babe?”

“Nothings wrong” Liam said with a strained smile, standing from his chair and pacing a little. He looked down at himself, stilling his movements. He paced way too much for someone in his mid-twenties. “Everything’s perfect, actually.”

“Are you sure? You seem tense? Is everything okay?” Theo asked, worry lacing his tone.

And dammit, this was not how Liam had intended this to go. He didn’t want to worry Theo at all, but now he had, and he had to act fast, before he worried Theo any more than he had.

“No, actually. Something is wrong, actually” Liam said as he turned to face Theo, before he fell to one knee in front of his boyfriend, tugging the necklace off of his neck and pulling the ring off the chain, holding it out in front of him. “Theo Raeken, will you do me the honour of marrying me?”

Theo gaped at him, before he let out a low _“you have got to be kidding me?”_

“Is that a yes?” Liam asked, feeling his stomach drop, his face falling as the seconds ticked by.

Theo, the ever-loving boyfriend that he was, scrambled out of the seat quickly, falling to his knees in front of Liam. “Yes, yes, to the moon and back, yes” Theo said, his hands shaking as they moved up to stroke Liam’s cheek and grip the back of his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. “Liam, of course I would say yes. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Liam smiled broadly at Theo, pulling the hand at his cheek down and slipping the ring onto his ring finger.

“It fits?” Theo asked, raising his hand up to admire the band. “And what does it say there?”

He peered closer to the band, finding three small, elegant words carved into the metal. But he couldn’t make out the words.

“Stand by me” Liam breathed out, and Theo turned his head to look at Liam. “It says ‘Stand By me’.”

Theo pulled him into a hug, unshed tears falling from his eyes as he kissed Liam passionately. When he pulled back, he smiled lovingly at Liam.

“I love you” Theo breathed out, resting his forehead against Liam’s.

“I love you too” was all Liam could say back.

Theo pulled back after a minute, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out a slim, square box. “I suppose I don’t have to hide this anymore, do I?” was all he said as he passed the box to Liam.

“You were going to propose?” Liam asked, not opening the box yet, waiting for Theo’s reply.

“Of course. I wanted it to be special, and why not while we’re on holiday” Theo said quietly. “Jenna helped me pick out the ring.”

“Damn that woman, that’s why she knew” Liam said immediately, but opened the box with a smile.

Sitting on the small cushion was a gold ring, almost exactly like the ring that he had just given Theo, except instead of a sapphire nestled between two diamonds, it was an emerald.

“Here, let me” Theo said softly, picking the ring out of the box and slipping it onto Liam’s ring finger.

It, too, was a perfect fit.

***

“What did you mean when you said, ‘she knew?’” Theo asked after the show had ended, rubbing his hands together against the cold of the night.

“Your ring” Liam said “the one I just gave you, was my fathers. My birth fathers. It meant a lot to me and I wanted you to wear it if we ever got married. But… I wanted mum’s permission to give it to you before I proposed, so I did, the night before we left.”

“So that’s why you were there” Theo said with a nod.

Liam nodded back, before he spoke again. “Yeah, well, she gave me her permission, and then asked me why I was afraid. I was worried you would say no. I’m guessing she knew that you were going to ask, didn’t she?”

Theo hummed his agreement, nodding his head, a broad smile on his face.

“Now, it begs the question” Liam said after a minute. “How long have you been wanting to propose for?”

“I asked Jenna for her permission to marry you when a year and a half ago, on your twenty first” Theo said softly, wrapping his arms around Liam’s shoulders. “We went looking for a ring shortly after. I was just… trying to get the courage to ask. But you beat me first.”

“Hey, it’s not a race” Liam said softly, pulling Theo down and kissing him lightly on the lips. “There’s always going to be something you can be first at.”

“I suppose” Theo said, a thoughtful look on his face. “I’ll always be the first of us to have a published book.”

All Liam could do was laugh, and Theo couldn’t help but follow suite. He truly did love Liam, and there nothing was going to stop that.


End file.
